Booska state Voke champ

Franklin County Technical School’s Cody Booska has already shown most of Western Massachusetts his talent on the golf course. On Wednesday, he unveiled it to the other side of the state.

Booska played a near-flawless round and finished with a sparkling 3-under-par 67 to run away with the individual championship during the Massachusetts State Small Schools Vocational Golf Tournament at Ridder Farm Golf Club in East Bridgewater.

Booska’s round was an impressive five shots lower than his nearest competitor in a 115-player field.

Booska, the reigning WMass Division III individual champion, started his morning on the 473-yard, par-5 17th hole. He promptly birdied it, and the par-4 18th to start 2-under, then he posted birdies on the par-3 third and short par-4 fourth holes to push his score to 4-under. He gave a stroke back to par on No. 6 but got it right back on the seventh, then dropped as low as 5-under after a two-putt birdie on the par-5 11th before bogeying Nos. 12 and 14.

Although he admittedly struggled with accuracy on his tee shots, the rest of Booska’s game was solid. He hit 13 of 18 greens in regulation and totaled just 29 putts.

“I had trouble off the tee but it was a very short course and wide open enough for me to still be in good shape,” said the senior. “I didn’t hit so many fairways (only 7 of 14), but I hit a lot of good approach shots. I don’t think I had to make a single birdie putt of over five feet.”

Booska and his teammates will complete their season over the next week. Then he’ll try to defend his WMass Division III Individual title on Oct 21 at Hickory Ridge Country Club in Amherst.